Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Date

2011

Series Title; No

South Asia Working Papers

Language

English

File Type

Link

Subject

Economy < General

Abstract

The financial crisis, initially traced to subprime mortgage market in the United States (US);and the resulting deleveraging process by global financial institutions involved in highly complex;financial transactions, marks the first global financial crisis of the 21st century. Few countries;linked to the global financial markets and international trade were spared from the sudden;downturn as the financial system imploded in September 2008. The propagation or succession of;interlinked events was visible to all?from the sudden and unexpected freezing of the;securitization industry to the ensuing adjustment through shrinking of bank balance sheets and;the resulting pervasive flight to quality. The confluence of these events wreaked havoc across;markets and countries around the world.;In the US, the credit squeeze and the ensuing impact on real estate and housing asset;markets led firms and households to reduce spending, resulting in a sharp economic slowdown.;Across the rest of the world, economies reeled as banks began calling in loans to reduce the;large counterparty credit risk, including those in seemingly riskier emerging markets. These first;round effects soon gave way to second round effects through slower export demand, further;weakening global economic growth.